Astronaut, U.S. Congressman. Born John Leonard Swigert Jr. in Denver, Colorado, he served with the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot from 1953 to 1956 and with the Air National Guard, 1957 to 1965. He held a position as engineering test pilot for North American Aviation, Inc. before joining NASA as an Astronaut in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 7 mission and was assigned command module pilot as a late replacement ten days before the Apollo 13 moon mission on April 11, 1970. Approximately 55 hours into the mission, the flight plan was modified en-route to the moon due to a failure of the Apollo 13 service module cryogenic oxygen system. Together with fellow crewmen, James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise, they worked closely with Houston ground controllers, converted their lunar module "Aquarius" into an effective lifeboat. Thus a possible space disaster resulted into a successful failure which safely returned the crew to earth. Swigert took a leave of absence from NASA to become Executive Director of the Committee on Science and Technology in 1973. He resigned from NASA and the committee in August 1977. In November 1982, he was elected as a Republican to the United States Congress but died of cancer before he could take his oath of office.
Astronaut, U.S. Congressman. Born John Leonard Swigert Jr. in Denver, Colorado, he served with the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot from 1953 to 1956 and with the Air National Guard, 1957 to 1965. He held a position as engineering test pilot for North American Aviation, Inc. before joining NASA as an Astronaut in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 7 mission and was assigned command module pilot as a late replacement ten days before the Apollo 13 moon mission on April 11, 1970. Approximately 55 hours into the mission, the flight plan was modified en-route to the moon due to a failure of the Apollo 13 service module cryogenic oxygen system. Together with fellow crewmen, James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise, they worked closely with Houston ground controllers, converted their lunar module "Aquarius" into an effective lifeboat. Thus a possible space disaster resulted into a successful failure which safely returned the crew to earth. Swigert took a leave of absence from NASA to become Executive Director of the Committee on Science and Technology in 1973. He resigned from NASA and the committee in August 1977. In November 1982, he was elected as a Republican to the United States Congress but died of cancer before he could take his oath of office.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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